Loom vs Tella: Which One is Better for Recording Your Course Videos?

How does new-kid-on-the-block Tella compare with industry-leading Loom as a screen recorder for your course videos? Read my review and see if you agree.

Today I heard about a new video recording app called Tella (at Tella.tv). It was recommended by a top course creator who said he had always used Loom to make his course videos but that Tella blew Loom out of the water.

So of course I had to go check out this "Tella" thing and see if he was right - because I use Loom for my course videos on Kajabi as well and am pretty happy with it. But if there's something better out there, I'm willing to check it out, if nothing else so I can tell you guys about it 😊.

Note: Once upon a time, I did use Descript to make my course videos but switched over to Loom because 1. Descript kept adding features really quickly and I couldn't keep up plus there were bugs, and 2. Loom added a few more features that made it really usable for me, like being able to edit videos not just trim them and also captions and transcripts.

Loom vs Tella for Recording Videos for Courses

Okay, now on to a quick comparison of these two. At this point, I didn't even sign up for a free Tella account. I just went through their website, watched some of their own videos and those of others reviewing Tella, etc.

So this is what I call "an early review" which won't go into great depth, but I hope give you some useful information to help you decide if Loom is just fine for your needs or whether you should check out Tella.

Pros and Cons of Loom and Tella

Here are some quick and dirty comparisons and my take on them as a solopreneur course creator ...  

Pricing

Currently, Tella has no annual pricing, just a free option or $19/mo. Loom has a free option or is $8/mo (if paid annually). Their plans are somewhat similar (Tella paid vs Loom paid). But there's a pretty big difference between $8 and $19/mo for the solopreneur.

Depth of Features

It's understandable because it's newer but it appears that Tella has far fewer features than Loom. For instance, in Tella you can't edit within a video only trim the beginning or end. If you never mess up when you're recording course videos, you won't care. But some of us do, derp. 

Also, Loom has features that Tella doesn't like a drawing tool, mouse emphasis, background noise reduction, filler word removal, video cam filters, engagement insights, and more.

Accessibility

I think Tella has a unique value proposition if you'll use it as combo Screen + Camera or Camera Only. But for strictly "screen sharers" like me, Tella has no real benefit over Loom.

Instead, it has a distinct disadvantage, Rather than explaining the difference, let me share a screenshot of a video shot with Tella that illustrates my point of view:

First of all, there's no denying it: This looks very professional. I love that.

But while it's nice that Tella shows the presenter larger (in a vertical rectangle vs Loom's "bubble" over the bottom left corner of the recorded portion), to do so, it must shrink the screen recording.

It also lets you personalize the background which is very cool. But in exchange for these two cool features, Tella makes the demo screen quite small especially for those of us watching on a laptop.

For me, that's a deal-breaker. I don't want any of my customers/students to have part of my presentations cut off on their screen just because they're not on a full-size computer monitor. In fact, I noticed that Tella's website itself was often "hanging off" the left side of my MacBook Air screen. 

Anyhow, accessibility is SO important and Tella needs to figure this out before I become a free or paid customer. 

Transcription and Captions aka Subtitles

Speaking of accessibility, transcription and captions/subtitles are also super important to me. Loom offers both. Tella has captions; I couldn't find anywhere if they provide video transcriptions which makes me assume they don't.

Affiliate Program

Tella has no affiliate program that I can find, though they do seem to work with influencers (?). The course creator I heard about Tella from was offering a discount code. Loom, however, has both affiliate and influencer programs. [Update: Use any Tella link in this post and receive 30% off!!]

Merge Videos

Both Tella and Loom offer you the ability to record clips, stop, start recording again in same stack, then finalize all together like one video. This is great for transitioning between parts of the video and looks very professional. 

However, again, for me it's not really an important feature. I primarily and purposely do shorter videos to adapt to students' typically short attention span (or available time; they're busy!), provide accessibility, and to more easily repackage videos and update lessons. 

The Merge Videos feature could be more suited to recording, say, webinars and YouTube videos, which I don't do much of, vs course lessons.

Chrome Extension and Mobile App

Both Tella and Loom have Chrome extensions and desktop apps but only Loom has a mobile app at this point. I've never used the Loom mobile app so that's not a deal-breaker feature for me.

Comparisons by Loom and Tella Themselves

Here's where Tella compares itself to Loom. I found some inaccuracy in their assessment of Loom. Tella says that Loom doesn't have subtitles or call to action buttons which Loom does have.

I couldn't find a comparison by Loom of itself against Tella. 

My Review: Tella vs Loom for Screen Recording Course Videos

TL;DR I chose to stay with Loom and not move over to Tella for 2 main reasons:

1. Tella doesn't yet have any hugely compelling features while Loom has several that I value.
2. Loom is much cheaper even though it has more features, has been around much longer, and is a more-developed app.

Besides, they sign all their emails from "The Loommates" and that's just the cherry on top 🍒😂 

 Note: This quick review was written on 05-11-22.